Native Instruments has released Elektrik Piano v1.5, which includes Universal Binary support on Mac OS X. Now based on the Kontakt 2 engine, this version 1.5 features greater stability, much faster loading times, host automation capacity, an improved voice allocation algorithm, thoroughly reworked 'authentic' patches, and numerous other small improvements from version 1.

New features :

- new instruments (16 new "Authentic Instruments" presets, four for each piano)
- new impulse-response room and cabinet simulations
- new effects (the A200, MK1 and MK2 instruments include a tremolo effect, the E7 instruments include a Wah-Wah effect, etc...)
- new options for setting the dynamic range and random values for velocity, volume, and pitch
- redesigned voice allocation algorithm which ...

PowerFX announces the release of "Grand Colour", the virtual instrument piano library from Colour Sonics. This huge library has been split up into individual downloads of particular pianos with each download including patches for Kontakt 1, 2.1 and HALion.

The acoustic pianos consist of the Bösendorfer 290, the Steinway D, the Baldwin Vertical and the Yamaha C7. Each piano has been recorded in Moscow, by Russia's top classical recording engineers using up to 20 different stereo dynamic levels for 40 seconds plus release and noise layers in a perfectly acoustically tuned environment. The end results are highly accurate emulations of these legendary instruments. The Bösendorfer download is $89 and the other pianos are $59 each.

Also available for download are the Colour Sonics "Vintage ...

ExpDigital has just released SCal V5, a music calculator which calculates delay, time to BPM, BPM to time, BPM note shift, timestretch, tempo shift, lfo rate and more.

SCal V5 is a standalone application available for Mac OSX (UB) and it is free so... well, you know, just enjoy !

Physical Music has announced the releases of Time Freezer v2.0. Time Freezer is a resynthesizer, it allows you to "freeze a moment of audio" and then manipulate it utilizing basic parameters such as pitch, volume, bandpass filter, denoiser, etc...

TimeFreezer costs $99 and is available for Mac OS X Universal Binary in both VST instrument and VST effect versions.

TimeFreezer VST Effect :

- Freezes any kind of audio in real time.
- You can connect live input.
- You can insert sequencer tracks.
- Holds complex sounds infinitely.
- Morph to next hold with crossfades(->10s).
- Transform bandpass filter in real time.
- Repitch the frozen sound in real time.
- Denoiser adjustable.
- Analysis time window adjustable.
- Clipless volume maximizer switchable ...

Puremagnetik has just released Test Run - a free "Live Ready" pack with over 100MB of sound content. It contains a collection of the best sounds from past Puremagnetik packs.

Test Run is compatible with Ableton Live 6.0.5 and higher and is available for immediate download at Puremagnetik's web site.